The present invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly, but not exclusively, is directed to techniques to control start-up of a diesel-fueled, intermittent combustion type of engine driving an electrical power generator.
The ease with which an engine may be started frequently depends on a number of factors. By way of nonlimiting example, temperature is one such factor, with warm engines typically requiring less fuel to start than cold engines. Depending on the particular parameters involved, the amount of fuel used to start an engine can vary, which can impact the rate at which the engine accelerates to a target rotational engine speed. The amount of time it takes to reach this target engine speed from the initiation of engine start and/or the character of the attendant acceleration profile is often of particular interest in electrical power generation applications. Correspondingly, the fuel usage profile is frequently of interest—especially in the case of diesel-fueled engines for which the level of smoke generated upon start-up can vary significantly with fueling. Existing schemes typically attempt to reach a desired speed in a manner that does not adequately account for initial fueling fluctuation, often involves many different parameters, may significantly overshoot the target speed, and can result in excessive smoke production. Thus, there is a need for further contributions to this technology.